A blog about Technology and the Meaning of Life

A new Blog, and a Fortress

Only two weeks since my first KITCO blog appeared… feels like ages, and being on a schedule adds just the right amount of pressure to stay on top of things, throw more balls in the air, follow more leads…. a very exciting experience. I noticed that besides of my obvious intentions to build a brand around “technology metals”, there are very personal goals, too. Like meeting certain people who, besides of playing a role in our industry, are entrepreneurs I have admired for a long time. Now I am inching my way closer to them and hope to ask them a couple of questions on technology and the meaning of life one day. My list? For starters, it’s Elon Musk of Tesla and Shai Agassi of SAP / Better Place. The former being celebrated as a modern day rebel who, against all odds, created a car company of a new kind. The latter who, after a charismatic career with SAP, just failed royally with his “Better Place” project despite having all of the world’s wind in his sails. I admire them both and hope to talk to them one day. I seem to have an angle on Elon Musk already (no, I didn’t buy that car – yet) but if any of my readers had a connection that would lead me to interviewing Shai Agassi I’d be very grateful.

That aside, what is it like writing for an actual news organization? I enjoy the services of a lady opening event doors for me which is awesome. There is a page editor who makes my articles look better – I have to get used to that. I mean, how do you improve what’s already perfect? Just kidding, I learn a lot from him. On top, I get tons of spam e-mail (glad I created a new address for this), random questions from readers who worry about their life’s savings, and a lot of nice feedback from friends, personal and in business. I am looking forward to the next two weeks :-)

This week’s article is about “Fort Metlock“, a bunker in Frankfurt which Matthias Rueth bought through foreclosure, and turned it into one of the most secure buildings in the world. It turned out I had driven past the building for decades (!) without paying any attention whatsoever…. just an ugly monolith that was completely unremarkable. Since World War 2, the building had served as a music studio and then as the “home” for up to 20 homeless people who were evicted by the City of Frankfurt prior to getting rid of the place. Since you can’t tear it down its uses are limited, and Matthias’ only competition was someone who decided that – since the place was so cheap – he could just seal it, put solar cells on the roof and enjoy the free power.

Matthias told me they removed 100 truck size garbage containers to clean out the place. Putting in flooring, lights, a freight elevator, two 4.6 ton doors and adequate alarm systems was a different matter, and he ended up spending over EUR 900,000 (about USD 1.2M) to convert the building to its present state. On the upside, his insurance company determined that even a direct plane hit would probably not require more than fresh paint (and more garbage containers) to fix the damage, so his premiums are rock bottom. Using modern tools, it takes 24 hours to drill a fist size hole in the wall – the police needs less than four minutes to be on the scene. Matthias has a letter of apology from HILTI, maker of the world’s best drills, because so many of them broke during renovation. So it’s easy to see why he feels good about his investment.

On the inside, despite the beautiful floor and great lighting, the place isn’t for everyone. There is an echo and vibration everywhere, you can feel the 2m walls around you wherever you are, and when the lights are turned off you are in complete and utter darkness – darker than any night is dark. Fascinating and a little scary at the same time.